Drow
Drow are the opposite side of the coin when it comes to elves, they are the cruelest, most debased, decadent, evil elves in existence on Galea. Drow are known for their cruelty, treachery, seduction, and cunning. Drow live in huge elaborate cities underground in huge caverns with buildings made directly out the rock and eerie glowing stones provide atmosphere. Appearance Drow stand around the same height as humans but are noticeably more slender and graceful looking. Their bodies are lighter with compact muscles but they tend to be more attractive than human bodies, on average they have more ample sexual features than humans and they have no body or facial hair just like regular elves. They have angular faces with prominent cheekbones and jaw lines with beautiful exotic eyes. Their eyes are usually a deep red, sometimes with a soft glow but other eye colors like blue or purple are not uncommon. They can have long or short pointed ears, longer ears being more native of Galea, due to interbreeding with Galean elves, while shorter are more common from Drow that originated from Ire. They usually have stark white hair but they can also have light blondes, platinum blondes, shades of gray, and shades of copper. However in more fashionable Drow society it is common to dye the hair bright and vivid colors like green, blue, pink, purple, and deep red. Drow skin color has some range, some being albino white, jet black, black, shades of gray, dark brown, bronzed tan, and light purple. History Birth of the Drow According to Drow legend, during the beginning of the Age of Moribund when undead roamed the entire continent, the elves lived in solitude, hiding from the hordes of the dead. Many began to question how the war was handled and the leadership of Avalon's choice to let the world die around them. Those who questioned the leadership organized and began calling themselves the Ten'Laisi, or For New Life. They began protesting and organizing rallies and became a major political contributor. Their leader was Zenfaria, one of the Eight Saints. For a many generations their power remained political, but close to the end of the age they grew violent. According to the Drow, this was because the Avalonian government began using political tactics to socially ostracize them which eventually lead to civilians committing hate crimes against anyone associated with the Ten'Laisi. According the Avalon, the group had fallen into excess and hedonism. Of course Avalon denies any such event or acts against the group. Hate for the Avalonian government grew and the Ten'Laisi began to use terror tactics to combat their new enemy. They ran secret strikes against key facilities and eventually these small skirmishes turned into full out war. A full one third of the Avalonian population revolted against the government and joined Ten'Laisi. This was the most devastating war in the history of the elven people. The Ten'Laisi were lead by Zenfaria and her first daughter, Baenara, became her general. Over time it looked as though the Ten'Laisi were losing. With their smaller numbers and the Selmeril even turning against them, Zenfaria had to find another source of power if they were going to survive. In a moment of desperation, Zenfaria struck a deal with the demon YGSLTH and suddenly their power grew exponentially, but with a cost. Their skin was turned black, their hair white, and their eyes red. The Ten'Laisi were obviously corrupted by darkness. This did provide them an extremely large advantage at night. However, with their new power, they were able to fight back the armies of Avalon and they too began to struggle in desperation. It is said that it was at this time Kaeleth taught the elves how to harness light. Part of the demon curse was they Ten'Laisi were also adversely affected by light now they were creatures of darkness. This new power of light was able to push the Ten'Laisi back and Avalon's forces drove them into hiding beneath the earth. It is then that they took on their new name, the Dhaeraow, the Forsaken. Crossing Through the Shadow During the Age of Gold, the Drow learned of Galea through captured and tortured Avalondi. The Drow's records of the events are not well kept, so the exact time they crossed into Galea is unknown, but the Moon Elves of Galea record the first sighting of Drow in 9,732 PCE. Unlike the Avalondi who mostly steered clear of the natives of Galea, preferring to be observers, the Drow wanted to be conquerors. They carried out raids on local villages of Galean elves, mostly Moon Elves, and then performed experiments on them. These experiments found favorable traits within the Galean elves and the Drow began interbreeding in an attempt to perfect the race. Initially, this interbreeding was not concentual by the Galean elves, but over time they learned that making peace with the Drow was far more beneficial and since they held less animosity toward them than the Avalondi, they were more willing to negotiate. This lead to more natural interbreeding and soon the Galean Drow were noticeably different than their Ire fore-bearers. Their skin took on different hues including browns, dark shades of red and hints of blue, all masking the jet black skin of the original Drow. Some were even born with marble white skin while maintaining their pure white hair, making their only colored feature their eyes. However, with all these changes to their physical bodies, the Drow's natural traits remained intact, and the desired benefits of the interbreeding project never came to fruition. This peace did not last long, however, and only a couple generations passed until war broke out between them. This time the Drow betrayed the Deep Elves and Moon Elves so thoroughly that they finally understood the hate the Avalondi had for the Drow. Thus began the Galean Drow War, the first war in history to be between natives of the two worlds. This war lasted from 9,037 PCE until 8,892 PCE, when the Galeans delivered a devastating blow to their capitol city of Macariam, utterly destroying it and burring it beneath the plains of Hior and creating the Macari Sink. From that point on the Galean Drow lived scattered and unorganized, preying off lone travelers and each other. Fourth Drow War to Present After the Fourth Drow War, many drow settled in cities and villages on the surface. They are no longer as rare a sight on the surface as they have been for most of history. This is especially true in Xepher where the Fourth Drow War took place. Large areas of land have been taken over by the drow and many have even began trade relations with other nations. Surface drow tend to have a broader view of the world and many have strayed from drow culture of cruelty and hate in favor of more peaceful means of living. Good drow on the surface are far more common and some cities have even began accepting drow where once they would have been killed on sight. Society & Culture Society Drow society is class-based and matriarchal, male drow generally take roles as fighters and infiltrators while females take leadership roles like bards and clerics. Wizards and Sorcerers are common among both genders and are well respected. Drow are motivated by self-interest and advancement which has contributed to their culture being a cesspool of intrigue, murder plots, and politics. Evil acts of torture and murder are not frowned upon in drow society and in fact a drow that can pull off a successful murder with no traces leading the culprit is highly respected and praised. Love is not an emotion that drow understand and instead channel their emotions towards raw carnal excess, one of their goddess promotes lust and the pursuit of carnal pleasures. Religion Drow have their own Pantheon of gods that they worship. This pantheon is centered around power, pleasure, and destruction of their enemies. Their main goddess is Zenfaria and she is considered their mother goddess, the other gods are considered secondary to the drow. Relations Drow consider themselves better than any other race out there, they consider other races as nothing more than potential slaves or sacrifices. However they respect strength and power and others who demonstrate that power especially over drow earn their respect. Adventurers Drow Houses Highborn Houses This is a list of the Highborn Houses for the Dhaeraow. These houses can be roughly divided into two main factions, Traditional Drow Houses and Jhehellrhim (Rebel) Drow Houses. Traditional Houses are run by Matrons who predominately worshiper Zenfaria. Jhehellrhim Houses are those that have become more integrated and took power from those that did not support Zenfaria during her time of ascension. In some extreme cases Highborn houses have been risen from a Lowborn House as they have proven themselves to be capable. An example of this is House Agarwaenlaun who earned Highborn status during the Fourth Drow War. Highborn houses are normally run by a Matron Mother, who is the most powerful female in the house. Many of the Matron Mothers are Clerics of Zenfaria and use the Matron Mother Cleric variant class. In some cases other title are used such as Dark Mistress or Dreadlord (for Jhehellrhim Houes). Highborn houses that are still female controlled. These houses follow the more normal Drow view that only females are fit for leadership as males are weak and nothing more then fodder. Houses run in a traditional way are always lead by a Matron Mother who is a medium to high level cleric of Zenfaria. * House Hlorierak (Venomstorm): House Venomstorm gained tremendous power after the fourth drow war and Zenfarias ascension. This is mainly due to many of their rivals dying in mysterious ways. Currently lead by Matron Mother Szor'qualyn Hlorierak. * House Agarwaenlaun (Crimsondancer): House Crimsondancer is an oddity among the noble houses of the drow as the house did not exist before the Fourth Drow War. Originally the house was a band of mercenaries that earned the right to become a Noble House due to their heroics during several battles that were being lost. Currently lead by Dark Mistress Avanna Agarwaenlaun * House Lomestra (Duskweaver): House Duskweaver has always been a noble house according to the sparse records that have survived. They are the quintessential Noble House and have never really gained or lost standing and tend to always have allies at the ready. Currently lead by Matron Mother Res'vana Lomestra. Houses that rebelled after the fourth Drow war and fall of the Spider Queen. Jhehellrhim Houses tend to have their leadership spread out a bit more with multiple individuals in a council. Unlike traditional houses, Jhehellrhim houses realize the use of all of its members and therefore many have males in leadership positions and in a few cases they actually run the House. * House Aikanaroafae (Hellbane): House Hellbane is one of the many Noble houses that overthrew their powerless Matron Mother after the fourth drow war and Zenfaria's ascension. Currently lead by Dreadlord Erion Aikanaroafae. * House Aegnorilliam (Fellheart): House Fellheart is known for its corsairs and slavers. This house was secretly male dominated before the fourth drow war but has since joined with the other Jhehellrhim houses. Currently lead by Visarik Aegnorilliam the Manflayer. Lowborn Houses Racial Traits Racial Traits found Here Subraces * Kanahraun: The Kanahraun are feral drow that have become cannibalistic predators that tend to stay in mobile family groups. They tend to hunt well known underdark travel routes and never leave any survivors if possible. * Morgosh: The Morgosh are drow that have become tainted through long exposure to deep underdark magic and radiation. Drow Racial Classes and Variants * Felblade Morgosh Bloodrager Variant * Matron Mother Drow Cleric Variant